OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC will issue its first report on the performance of Internet services provided by the country's major Internet service providers (ISPs) next spring.
Data is currently being gathered from ‘Whiteboxes’ installed in the homes of the 4,500 participants who signed up to measure the performance of their broadband Internet services when the Commission unveiled the Measuring Broadband Canada program last May.
The Commission said Wednesday that the data will provide useful insight into network performance, including actual connection speeds, and provide a better understanding of whether certain Internet services from participating ISPs are delivering speeds as advertised….
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MONTREAL – A Superior Court judge has ordered Videotron to pay $7 million for improperly charging its television customers for the now defunct Local Programming Improvement Fund (LPIF).
According to a report in the Montreal Gazette, Judge Carole Hallée gave cause to a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of Videotron’s 1.5 million customers. The suit alleged that Videotron customers who subscribed only to its cable services paid the correct amount for the CRTC-levied fund, but those who bought a bundle of services were deliberately overcharged, violating provincial consumer-protection laws.
She awarded $3.2 million to the class-action plaintiffs to compensate for the fee on…
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OTTAWA – The CRTC has turned down an application by Groupe Média TFO seeking must-offer status for its television channel TFO.
The Commission said Thursday that the request is not justified after considering the application “in light of the objectives set out in relevant policies and regulations, as well as the decisions and measures fostering choice for Canadians and flexibility for BDUs resulting from the Let’s Talk TV proceeding”.
The French-language educational media company filed the application in May, accompanied by more than 700 supporting interventions and research indicating that 88% of Canadians living in provinces with little access to…
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THERE CAN BE LITTLE DOUBT that local TV is in a difficult spot. Declining ad revenue, audience fragmentation and erosion, the challenges of digital platforms, a lack of a dual revenue stream and the list goes on. But what to do about it? Some argue for a complete revamp of the local TV funding approach, while others are saying the CRTC only need to give local broadcasters more flexibility to work within existing rules.
The state of local TV is black and white, at least when looking at the revenue picture. As Bell Canada notes in its intervention into the…
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TORONTO – After restructuring and thinning out the executive ranks through the summer and fall, as we’ve reported on extensively, Bell Media is about to eliminate about 380 more employees at the manager level and below.
As is required by the Canada Labour Code, companies which intend to cut 50 or more positions over a four-week period must inform the Minister of Labour, as well as post notices of the impending terminations inside company locations. Last week, Bell Media did just that, informing the new Minister, MaryAnn Mihychuk, on November 5th of the coming cuts. This…
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TORONTO – Despite flat revenues and stagnant listening hours, now is not the time for the radio industry to sound the alarm bells, CRTC Ontario Commissioner Raj Shoan told attendees during the closed portion of the Ontario Association of Broadcasters’ Connection 2015 conference on Tuesday.
Rather, he continued, the industry must do a better job promoting itself while at the same time securing a place on the devices that Canadian audiences are currently using to receive audio content – their smartphones and cars.
The activation of the FM chip in smartphones is “an attractive option” for radio operators, he said, one that…
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GATINEAU – The nearly four days of testimony in the mandate review of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunications Services’ (CCTS), could mostly be described as civil, maybe even sedate, but on Friday, CRTC chairman Jean-Pierre Blais sparred with Bell Canada over aspects of the company’s employee compensation formula as it relates to customer service and complaints to the CCTS.
Robert Malcolmson, Bell’s senior VP of regulatory affairs, explained that meeting objectives from six strategic imperatives helps determine executive and employee compensation and that customer satisfaction is one of them. Blais wondered to what degree that element plays in employee…
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MONTREAL – The CRTC has announced more details around its second pre-event leading up to its Discoverability Summit.
In collaboration with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), the Commission will host ‘En route to the Discoverability Summit: Content in the Age of Abundance’ in Montreal on December 3 at the Phi Centre from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
Focusing on French-language markets, the event will be moderated by Matthieu Dugal, host and columnist on Ici Radio-Canada Première and TV5 Monde, and feature Pascal Lechevallier, CEO of What’s Hot, a new media consulting firm. It will be live streamed on the…
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GATINEAU – The third day of the Commissioner for Complaints for Telecommunication Services (CCTS) mandate review saw telecom providers in the West and East agree on a few changes to the complaints body. Quebecor Media and Shaw Communications noted in their respective testimony to the CRTC on Thursday they believe it’s natural for the CCTS to conduct some code interpretation.
They also believe that participation in the complaints body should be mandatory.
Peggy Tabet, senior director of regulatory affairs for telecommunications at Quebecor, noted under questioning that it’s about treating all players equally. In a world where the company is subjected…
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GATINEAU – Rogers Communications told the CRTC on Wednesday that the Commissions for Complaints for Telecommunications Services (CCTS) should become “a destination of last resort” for consumer complaints.
The country’s largest wireless provider argued during day 2 on the hearing into the CCTS (click here for day one's coverage) the industry should take a page out of the banking sector’s playbook and adopt a model similar to that of the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments (OBSI). Kim Walker, Rogers’ Ombudsperson, said during her opening remarks that the OBSI is the final recourse for customers after…
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